Basking in Japanese delights

Escape the crowds of Tokyo by heading south to a near-tropical island

My back and shoulders are roasting, but I won't budge from the scalding Ibusuki sand baths until my Japanese friend caves.

"I'm okay," I insist, squirming to open a small air pocket between my shoulder blades and the sand scorching my back.

Hot-spring-fuelled sand baths draw thousands of stressed Japanese and foreign tourists a year to Ibusuki, a small seaside resort on Kyushu, one of the four main islands in the Japanese archipelago.

The southern island of Kyushu is known for its near-tropical climate, active volcanoes, historic castles and shrines, pottery, and ubiquitous hot springs and natural sand baths.

The Ibusuki Natural Sand Bath Centre on Kinko Bay is about an hour's drive south of Kagoshima City, a pleasant castle town described in tourist brochures as the "southern gateway to Japan."

The centre attracts visitors with promises of improved blood circulation and relief for aching muscles and other maladies. Most people come away feeling refreshed and relaxed; the foolhardy leave with a racing pulse and a lobster-red back.

Sand bathers slip into yukatas (summer-weight cotton kimonos), supplied by the centre, before lowering themselves into a shallow hollow in the sand under a large sun awning or colourful shade umbrella. A towel protects the neck as attendants weight clients down with fresh layers of sand across their chest, stomach, arms and legs. The only way to adjust the heat is to ask the attendant to remove a few scoops of the heavy sand.

"A young man passed out yesterday," recounts one attendant as she shovels damp sand over me, covering all but face and head.

Bathers are buried horizontally, not standing upright as photos might make it appear, so it is possible to wriggle loose if the heat becomes unbearable. (And no fear someone will kick sand in your face and race away!)

Novices usually remain buried no longer than 10 to 15 minutes, but it is almost 20 minutes by the time my Japanese companion decides to sit up, and I can escape my gritty oven.

My friend Maki, an old hand at sand bathing, heads indoors to shed her yukata, rinse off the sand and soak in a steaming hot-spring-fed bath. I plunge instead into the cold-water pool and worry that my back will blister and peel (thankfully, it didn't).

Following lunch, we return to Kagoshima, with a slight detour inland to Lake Ikeda, famed for its two-metre-long eels and resident dinosaur, Isshy, which bears a striking resemblance to Scotland's Loch Ness monster. We stop to admire the fishermen's fresh catch of eels, but there is no sign of the elusive Isshy.

I had come to Japan to visit my son, who works for the Kagoshima Prefecture (regional government) office in Kagoshima City. I flew to Kagoshima from Tokyo - only $100 one-way, a special deal offered by Japan Airlines to international travellers - and then returned to Tokyo by train, with a stop in Kumamoto City, on the west coast of Kyushu.

Kagoshima City is less than two hours by plane - eight hours via Japan Rail's reliable shinkansen (high-speed railway network) - from the hustle and bustle of Tokyo, with its 12 million population. But the slow-paced town of 600,000 is off the map for most foreign tourists, who are drawn to the well-publicized sights of Mt. Fuji, Kyoto, Osaka, and Hiroshima.

Too bad. The port town of Kagoshima has much to offer.

- Mt. Sakurajima, an active volcano that juts out of Kagoshima Bay and dominates the skyline, is a mere 15-minute ferry hop from town. The manacing hulk regularly blows smoke and ash into the sky. During the last major eruption in 1914, an estimated three billion tonnes of lava poured out, obliterating the strait that had separated the island of Sakurajima from the nearby Osumi peninsula. The Sakurajima Visitors Centre features a georama of the eruption and a three-kilometre lava trail, with spectacular views of the city across the bay.

- A city-view excursion bus allows tourists to hop on and off at a dozen historic and natural heritage sites for $5 a day. The bus makes it easy and inexpensive to sample Kagoshima's excellent restaurants, shops and museums.

- A free outdoor foot spa at the seaport boardwalk where visitors can pamper their weary feet. After a long day of walking and shopping, imagine sitting on a long wooden bench, stripping off shoes and socks, and soaking your feet in soothing hot spring water. The fresh-flowing water is clean, and the bench area is spotless (typical of Japan's mainly litter-free streets and public areas).

A short train and cab ride from Kagoshima lies Miyama, a village showcasing the work of local Satsuma-ware potters. Village map clutched in one hand, I head straight for the Toen Jukan kiln and pottery workshop, which has a small museum highlighting the legacy of 14 generations of Jukan potters, who brought their craftsmanship from Korea. Visitors can wander past the glassed-in potters' workshops, and then admire the black and white Satsuma wares for sale - from simple ashtrays to ornate vases - in the gift shop. As I pause to read a brief English-language history of the kiln, an attendant comes forward with a small tray, bearing green tea and sweets, and invites me to sit and take my time.

Other tourist areas within striking distance of Kagoshima include:

- Kumamoto City, about 170 kilometres north of Kagoshima, is famous for its magnificent "black castle," a 16th-century wood and stone castle that was heavily damaged by samurai rebels in 1877 and has been restored by the municipality as a tourist attraction. (Many of Japan's castles were destroyed by wars, fires and earthquakes, and have been rebuilt at government expense.)

- Mt. Aso is the site of the world's largest volcano caldera, 128 kilometres in circumference. It's an easy visit from Kumamoto. The five peaks of Mt. Aso - the highest is Takadake at 1,593 metres - include Nakadake, an active volcano. On a good day, visitors can ride a panoramic cable car to the edge of the Nakadake crater for a bird's-eye view. When the on-site monitoring station detects high levels of toxic fumes, the ride is cancelled and hikers warned to steer clear.

- Yakushima, a World Natural Heritage site, has become popular with ecotourists. The mountainous island, a four-hour ferry ride south from Kagoshima, harbours monkeys, deer, spawning loggerhead turtles, tropical gardens and some of the oldest cedars in the world. Visitors should plan to spend more than one day on the island if they hope to view the famous Jomon-sugi cedar, estimated to be up to 7,200 years old. Jomon-sugi can be seen - no tree-hugging allowed - only after a gruelling six-hour hike into the interior.